Celebrating 18 with Gratitude and Intention

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For Anna's 18th Birthday, 18 weeks before her birthday, I reached out to 18 people to ask them to spend some intentional time with her and to write her a letter for this milestone of a birthday. It was a follow up to her 13th Birthday Crossing Celebration, and it turned out to be a huge gift for her again in her senior year. 

Below is part of one of Anna's supplemental essays she wrote for one of her college applications. When I first read this, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for having people in her life as her "cloud of witnesses" and for the fact that she was able to articulate how this has shaped her so much. This confirmed how important this was in her formation at 13, and it was so fitting to follow up again with a similar invitation for her senior year in turning 18 with quality time carved out and with words of blessing poured out over her. 


box of letters we gathered from her 18th birthday "cloud of witnesses" 


some letters below of letters with pictures of the time these dear friends and family spent with Anna before her birthday.... 

















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